Spy Hunter (GameCube)

The system is simple. Complete objectives in levels by doing various tasks. You can unlock levels once you have completed enough objectives. However, you must have completed the primary objective on the previous level to be able to play the level.

Unlock all the objectives on a level (at once) and you will be able to play two-player. So far, I have only unlocked the second two-player level, which is called Chicken Hunter. Destroy more chickens than your opponent to win! If there are any "player blow up the other player" levels, I don't know.

The graphics are some of the smoothest you'll find in a car game. You can see the trees and clouds in a reflection off of your boot. The car leaves skidmarks if you turn just a tad too hard. You can see as far as the next corner which, in some cases, is quite a way away.

The longevity is great. Some objectives easy, some are hard. You can do the easy ones, get on to the next level, continue, until you find you don't have enough objectives to progress. So, you go back to the start, do what you thought were hard objectives, and get onto the next level. Pure genius.

The car, a G-6155 Interceptor can be driven onto water and transformed into a boat. It boasts a variety of weapons either way, both offensive and defensive. In case you take more than 50% damage, the car can take no more as most of the bodywork come off and the car/boat becomes a motorbike/raft. The only downside to the change is that the motorbike cannot use defensive weapons. But one question, Midway, when will the G-6155 be on sale to the public?

The old Weapons Van is still in the game. It gives you a chance to repair and re-ammo. Also, because the car has an ability to change into a boat, there is a Weapons Boat which performs the same duties.

The only reason I could think someone would not want to buy this game is if they are one of those who think that cars cause the breakdown of society. If you are not one of those people, I suggest you buy this game now, invent a Cube game copier, and give us all one for free. Go on, why not?

The gameplay is simple. You are given a primary mission, and a list of secondary mission to complete in a location. These range from destroying a helicoptor, to attaching a set number of homing devices, or picking up hidden objects. To progress through the game, you must complete a set number of these missions. (For example, to move on to location two, you have to complete at least 4 of the 8 missions in location 1). With 14 locations to visit, potentially this is a game with a long future...but there is a problem...

The resolution of the graphics is not exactly perfect. At some points I thought I was back on my Commodore 64 !! Screens filled with other vehicles caused 'slow-down' and explosions look like they were made out of lego. The cut scene animations really show up the lack of high-res and I found myself stopping them before they had finished.

HOWEVER...You'll notice I didn't give this 1 star. The reason is..gameplay. Despite the poor graphics and despite the dissapointing cut-scenes, there is a very playable game in there trying to get out. The controls are almost instictive, making this a 'pick-up-and-play' game. The missions in each location have a nice difficulty curve, with one or two being easy enough to complete at the first attempt, and one or two needing quite a few tries to complete. The locations are nicely varied and offer a range of driving surfaces, and there is a sense of speed about the whole thing.

This is definatley a game to have a look at, but I would find it hard to reccomend paying full price for it. I'm not a fan of renting games, but in this case that might be the best option.